Customer experience has rapidly moved up the boardroom agenda as business leaders have realised how critical it is to customer loyalty and business growth. According to a Salesforce survey, the vast majority (88%) of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services.
Amazon, Uber, and Airbnb have become billion-dollar brands because of their innovative approach to CX. For example, Airbnb provides bots, live agents, social messaging, in-app messaging, and 24/7 phone, social media, and email support for its customers. There’s also an Airbnb Help Centre with a range of resources for Airbnb guests and hosts, who can select a tailored customer experience according to their needs. Not only does Airbnb constantly test all aspects of its CX, from its systems to its host and guest experiences, it involves customers in decision-making around CX. At an annual event, called ‘OneAirbnb’, hosted by the brand, employees and hosts meet up together and discuss successes and challenges.
In the age of AI, brands have the ability to transform their customer service into a more bespoke and engaging experience. Yet many companies aren’t delivering on CX. Customer experience in the US has declined for the third year in a row, according to a recent report from Forrester. The average customer experience score was 69.3 out of 100, its lowest since Forrester’s CX Index study adopted its current methodology in 2016. The reason for this is that brands are failing in one vital area: they struggle when it comes to monitoring customer reactions and responses to digital experiences, and using that data effectively to improve services.
To deliver on CX, brands need to use multiple levels of research to uncover how customers feel about the brand experience
These include data analytics, customer surveys, real-time optimisation, and social listening, along with other quantitative and qualitative metrics. To boost website or digital platform experience, tools such as Contentsquare and Adobe Analytics enable brands to understand how users are using the site. Hotjar obtains feedback and uncovers any challenges, while Alexa measures web presence and compares it to competitors. When it comes to perception metrics, there’s a wide range of tools available — from Net Promoter Scores, which measure customer loyalty, to social listening solutions like Meltwater, SocialMention, and Spezify. Search engine Omgili searches forums and online chatrooms for mentions of your brand, while Google Trends Graph Explorer allows you to add your own search terms for Google to analyse. For direct feedback, there are Google Surveys and, for existing customers, Survey Monkey.
Covering so many different digital touchpoints, and with a wealth of data to tap into, leaders have the ability to get crucial insights into how the brand is perceived and being talked about as well as any obstacles people are encountering in their interactions with it. But deciding which combination of research techniques to use is crucial. The approach is very much dependent on specific business goals and KPIs. First and foremost, businesses need to understand how channels are performing and the ease with which customers are able to engage with the brand. Listening to what customers are saying is the best way to measure the success of your CX. But it’s not just about collecting data and implementing reactive changes ad hoc. It requires a considered, strategic approach. Changes should be incremental and constantly monitored for impact.
In future, AI will further improve brands’ ability to provide hyper-personalised interactions, predict and prevent issues, anticipate customer needs, and create a more consistent brand experience. But investing in technology to enhance CX is not enough. With customer loyalty decreasing and customer expectations only set to rise, the successful brands will be those that put their CX strategy at the centre of their organisations.
Featured image: Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels
